Alessandra Mussolini (1962)
| birth_place = Rome, Italy | death_date = | death_place = | nationality = Italian | party = MSI-DN (1992–1995) National Alliance (1995–2003) Social Action (2003–2009) The People of Freedom (2009–) | spouse = Mauro Floriani (1989 to date) | relations = Benito Mussolini (grandfather) | children = 3 | residence = | alma_mater = | occupation = | profession = Politician | religion = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} Alessandra Mussolini (born 30 December 1962) is an Italian politician, the granddaughter of Benito Mussolini, and previously an actress and model. She is the founder and former leader of the national conservative political party Social Action; from 2004 until 2008, Mussolini also served as Member of the European Parliament, and has since been a member of the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Italian Parliament, for the ruling People of Freedom party.Deputati - MUSSOLINI Alessandra, website of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy. Retrieved 2010-11-23. Some of Mussolini's noted stances are in regards to social views on women's and children's rights and role within both the family unit and society in general. Personal life Alessandra Mussolini was born in Rome, the daughter of Romano Mussolini, the fourth son of the Fascist leader Benito Mussolini, and Anna Maria Villani Scicolone (born 11 May 1938, Rome). The actress Sophia Loren is her maternal aunt. From 1976 to 1980 she went to high school at the American Overseas School of Rome. She graduated in 1986 from Università di Rimini, where she got her Master of Science in medicine and surgery. She married customs policeman Mauro Floriani on 28 October 1989. Bucking tradition, she proposed to him."Chronicle" by Nadine Brozan, The New York Times, 15 November 1994. Together they have three children, Caterina, Clarissa, and Romano – the latter named after his grandfather. Later, the children have adopted their mother's surname, but she went through a complex legal process to allow them to do so. She has since campaigned for Italian law to be changed to allow all children to take their mother's last name if they wish so."Mussolini calls for new naming law" by Malcolm Moore, The Daily Telegraph, 31 May 2006 Entertainment career Mussolini was taken under the wing of her aunt Sophia Loren for a while and started a career as an actress in the Italian language film industry during the 1970s. A Special Day (1977), in which she had a minor role as "Maria Luisa", won an American Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. During 1982, Mussolini released a pop music album of romantic songs under the title Amore on Alfa Records; the album was released only in Japan and has since become something of a collectors item. Mussolini also appeared as a glamour model, including on the cover of two European editions of Playboy, in Italy (August 1983) and Germany (November 1983). "When you are an actress, you are dealing with the body. Every actress does topless and stuff like this; you have to.", she has said. Mussolini continued as an actress into the 1980s. Some of the films she featured in were made for Italian television. However, she still acted in standard cinematic films, such as The Assisi Underground where she played a nun; the movie focused on the Roman Catholic Church rescuing Italian Jews from the Nazis in 1943. She starred in her final film in 1990 and then left the film industry to continue studying after a producer asked her to change her name. Also archived at FindArticles.com as "Mussolini In Stilettos" by Susan Chenery. Political career In 1992, she was elected to parliament in a Naples constituency as a member of the Movimento Sociale Italiano (MSI). She later was a candidate for the post of mayor of Naples, but was defeated by Antonio Bassolino. Her relations with Gianfranco Fini, leader of the Alleanza Nazionale, never were very good, she announced; she then withdrew later, her resignation due to differences with him at least once."A Mussolini Quits Rightist Party in Italy" ''The New York Times, 15 November 1996. She unsuccessfully challenged him for leadership of the party when he withdrew support for Benito Mussolini in a television interview in January 2002."Alessandra Mussolini seeks leadership of Italy's far Right" by Bruce Johnston, The Daily Telegraph, 26 January 2002"Mussolini to challenge party boss", CNN, 25 January 2002 Mussolini suddenly left National Alliance on 28 November 2003, following the visit of party leader and the Deputy Prime Minister Gianfranco Fini to Israel, where he described fascism as "the absolute evil" as he apologised for Italy's role as an Axis Power during the Second World War. Mussolini however defended the right of Israel to exist and declared that the world "should beg forgiveness of Israel". Following her resignation, Mussolini formed her Social Action party, originally named "Freedom of Action", and organised a coalition named Social Alternative. The move was read in the Italian media as surprising move because of Mussolini's "progressive" stances on many issues, including abortion, artificial insemination, gay rights See also: and and civil unions. See also: She has been an outspoken "feminist" and has been described by conservative commentators as a "socialist" and a "left-winger". In the European Parliament Election, 2004 her electoral list, Social Alternative, gained 1.2% of the vote. Mussolini herself received 133,000 preference votes. In response to a comment made by UKIP MEP Godfrey Bloom where he said that "No self-respecting small businessman with a brain in the right place would ever employ a lady of child-bearing age. That isn't politically correct, is it, but it's a fact of life. The more women's rights you have, it's actually a bar to their employment." and: "I just don't think women clean behind the fridge enough," Mussolini responded by saying In March 2005, Mussolini was banned by a local court from regional elections held the following month for presenting fraudulent signatures."Alessandra Mussolini barred from election because of faked signatures" by John Hooper, The Guardian, 14 March 2005 "This is an affront to democracy, if they're going to exclude the Social Alternative they will have to exclude all the parties, because all the signature lists are false", Mussolini told Reuters."Mussolini’s granddaughter barred from vote", Reuters, 13 March 2005, on Tiscali News Mussolini went on a hunger strike to protest the decision."Hunger Strike By Mussolini", Associated Press, 15 March 2005, on CBS News However, at the end of the month Italy's top administrative court, the Council of State, annulled the decision and she stood for election."Q&A: Italy regional elections", BBC News, 1 April 2005 In 2006 she responded to claims by the transgender Italian M.P. candidate Vladimir Luxuria that she was a 'fascist' with the line "Meglio fascista che frocio" ("It is better to be a fascist than a faggot")."Mussolini a Vladimir Luxuria 'Meglio fascista che frocio'", La Repubblica, 9 March 2006 In November 2007, remarks by Mussolini triggered the collapse of the far-right Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty grouping within the European Parliament."Xenophobia destroys EU's ultra-rightwing MEP group", The Guardian, 15 November 2007 Mussolini declared that all Romanians were criminals in remarks regarding immigration policy. This prompted delegates from the Greater Romania Party to quit the group, bringing the group below the minimum number of members to qualify as a caucus and receive Parliament funding. After the Italian general elections of April 2008, Mussolini serves as a member of the Italian parliament within Silvio Berlusconi's alliance of right wing parties, The People of Freedom. Mussolini condemned the Vatican's comparison of homosexuality with pedophilia, stating "You can't link sexual orientation to pedophilia ... this link risks becoming dangerously misleading for the protection of children." Filmography *''Bianco, rosso e...'' (1972) *''A Special Day'' (1977) *''Il Caso Pupetta Maresca'' (1982) (TV film), with Alessandra Mussolini as Pupetta Maresca *''Il Tassinaro'' (1983) *''Qualcosa di biondo'' (1984) *''The Assisi Underground'' (1985) *''Ferragosto O.K.'' (1986) (TV film) *''Noi uomini duri'' (1987) *''Vincere per vincere'' (1988) (TV film) *''Sabato, domenica e lunedì'' (1990) (TV film) *''Ha-Derech L'Ein Harod'' (1990) Notes and references External links * Profile on the Italian Parliament website * European Parliament CV * Official website of Alternativa Sociale * * Interview with Alessandra Mussolini by Antonella Ricciardi, 19 May 2005 * Audio interview with Alessandra Mussolini from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 30 March 2006 (RAM format) * Alessandra Mussolini Playboy magazine covers at PBCovers.com Category:Living people Category:Actresses from Rome Category:Italian film actresses Category:Italian actor-politicians Category:Italian neo-fascists Category:Italian women in politics Category:Italian fascists Category:Female MEPs for Italy Category:The People of Freedom politicians Category:Italian Social Movement politicians Category:20th-century Italian politicians Category:MEPs for Italy 2004–09 Category:21st-century Italian politicians Category:Social Alternative MEPs Category:National Alliance (Italy) politicians Category:Italian anti-communists Category:Mussolini family Category:MEPs for Italy 2014–19 Category:Forza Italia MEPs Category:21st-century women politicians Category:Non-SMW people articles